Study Breaks
by boopingsloth
Summary: aka 'The Thoughts You Think Instead of Studying'. Nora hated studying. Hated it with every fiber of her being... mostly because it was boring, but also because it gave her too much time to think about someone she loved with every fiber of her being... someone who was too clueless to see it and wouldn't feel the same way even if he knew.
1. Chapter 1

So… just something I scribbled out while I was bored at Book Fair… I know -gasp! Bored at a BOOK FAIR? But okay, I knew absolutely _nobody_ , the librarian left me alone in the room, and there was nobody doing any shopping. Plus, I'd seen most of these books at the other Book Fair I work at, so… I decided to write some stuff. I was _hoping_ my AU would be more willing to be written, but since that didn't happen, a little snippet of something for you guys! (And maybe I'll get something Thanksgiving-y up before tomorrow ends. Maybe)

Anyway, I don't own anything, but I hope you guys enjoy!

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 _ **Study Breaks -The Thoughts You Think Instead of Studying**_

She loved him. It was never something she questioned, but something she simply accepted with everything she was. Loving him was as easy -and sometimes easier- than breathing.

Nora's love for Ren was as much a part of her as the color of her hair.

It wasn't easy, knowing that her love was different than Ren's. At best, he saw her as his best friend… at worst, she was a surrogate sister, someone that he felt obligated to care for given their long friendship and shared history. Maybe that was why she felt such empathy for Pyrrha and tried so hard to make Jaune interested in their red-headed friend.

Unrequited love sucked.

Nora shuffled slightly, putting her headphones on with a sigh. She hated these study breaks Ren insisted on -it was boring by herself, but it also gave her too much time sitting still to think about her partner… and feel sorry about her whole situation.

Not too sorry though… after all, at least she didn't have to watch Ren fawn over someone else.

Scowling at her book, not processing the words in front of her, Nora could feel herself beginning to pout. That was a thought she didn't want to dwell on for too long. She was barely handling her feelings as it was… she didn't want to think how she'd live with the jealousy!

Bored, and upset at her own thoughts, Nora plopped against her pillows, missing the amused look her partner sent her. They might have agreed -well, Nora gave in when Ren threatened to stop making pancakes- on these study breaks once a week, but that didn't mean that she had to enjoy it.

Stuck in her own thoughts, Nora almost missed the candy flying at her face. Jolting into a sitting position, she tugged off her headphones, looking over at Ren. "You could have totally hit me! I might have been sleeping, you know? Port assigned the most boring textbook _ever_!"

Ren raised an eyebrow. "You don't fall asleep that quickly. Besides, that should get you through ten more minutes, and then we'll go buy your cookies."

"Ten minutes?" Nora glanced at the clock quickly. Their study breaks were supposed to last for an hour. It had only been half of that.

Nora looked back at Ren, whose full focus was on his textbook, ignoring her stare easily. He _never_ cut study time short! Ren was obsessed with their studies, making sure they both passed all these written tests!

Had he seen how irritable she was and want to fix it? It sounded like something he would do and never admit -at least, something he would do for Nora.

And was it any wonder that she was so in love with him when he did stuff like that?

Nora grinned at Ren, looking down at her book, feeling like she could make some progress studying now.

Yes, unrequited love sucked, but it let her stay close to Ren, so she wouldn't complain.

Well, she wouldn't complain very much at least… just about Ren's cluelessness when she very obviously cared about him.  
After all… who else would she sit and study with regularly?

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And there's that! I had to… I mean, I don't think anyone can be as bubbly and ditzy as Nora is, not really. She's gotta have some serious for herself sometimes, and RWBY Chibi made her one-sided crush on Ren both very obvious and very adorable. And that's kinda where this came from!

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I'm hoping to get something for Thanksgiving up (not my favorite holiday, far from it, but given my family… I need the distraction tomorrow), OOH, or maybe this scene from _Ren's POV_ , so feel free to drop a review and let me know what you think (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE my family is already in my house and driving me crazy). Thanks so much for reading guys, and I'll see you guys in the next story!


	2. Chapter 2

I couldn't stop thinking about it. I just had to. It seemed like fun, and besides, I don't do much with Ren's POV when he's not… you know, desperately and secretly in love with Nora and thought this would be fun. I would have had this up sooner, but… well, life got in the way. Plus, I might have… okay, I was just binging on Achievement Hunter and Backwardz Compatible. But, I did want to get this out and have this for you guys while I work on some other stories. I hope you enjoy and I own nothing!

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 _ **Ren's Study Breaks -Things You Think When You're Distracted**_

Ren never got distracted. He was always focused on the task at hand: study for class, entertain Nora, train for the festival, cook for Nora, do his homework, stop Nora from blowing something up…

There was no room for distractions of any kind. Each task had to be completed in its own time, to make sure everything else ran smoothly. And if he did it well enough, then it seemed completely effortless and no one noticed how hard he worked to keep everything in its own place.

Well, no one except for Nora. Nora knew everything, and made her own efforts to change his unwavering routine… although she would go along with it if he insisted.

Such as these study breaks. Ren knew that she hated it; Nora tended to despise anything that required her to remain still and calm for a prolonged period of time. Sometimes, he thought that she only sat down to eat because she could talk at people practically the whole time anyway.

He could hear her moving around on her bed, seeing the image in his head without needing to turn around. She probably had her headphones on already, playing anything for noise as she tried to find a comfortable position to stare at her book in. Nora, even when 'staying still' always had some sort of movement… shuffling around, tapping her foot, bobbing her head…

Nora was always open for distractions.

Ren heard Nora plop back, presumably against her pillows, and couldn't resist looking back in amusement. Typical Nora, so distracted by her own thoughts that she disregarded the task at hand… well, at least she looked comfortable, even if Ren could tell that she wasn't happy to be in the position they were in. Nora _hated_ studying, but as the responsible partner, Ren felt duty-driven to make sure that they managed to pass all of their classes.

He didn't normally go to such drastic measures, like threatening to stop making pancakes -if Nora thought about it, she'd realize that he'd never hold out against her begging for them- but her test scores were beginning to frighten him.

Reaching for his bag, Ren found a piece of strawberry candy that had made its way inside. It had probably been Nora's doing, so she had sweets wherever she went, but this candy had gone forgotten. At the very least, she could have something sweet while he finished off this chapter.

Tossing from where he remembered her being, Ren waited for Nora's reaction before looking back over at her.

"You could have totally hit me! I might have been sleeping, you know? Port assigned the most boring textbook ever!" Nora was pouting, sitting up quickly as she rolled the candy between her fingers absently, a habit she didn't seem very close to breaking.

Raising an eyebrow carefully, Ren gestured towards the candy in her hand. "You don't fall asleep that quickly. Besides, that should get you through ten more minutes, and then we'll go buy your cookies."

She'd only been asking for cookies for three days now. He expected her to be far more excited at the thought of buying them at last.

"Ten minutes?" Nora looked at the clock, obviously wondering how much time had gone by while she was doing anything but studying. She had reason to wonder, since Ren always stuck to their hour-long study times, but…

Nora had been out of sorts recently… and it was far worse when they were alone like this. It wasn't a problem so much while they walked around campus, or Nora dragged him on her adventures, but when it was quiet…

Well, Nora just hadn't been quite the same since the dance. She was still bright and cheerful, but somehow she just seemed a little distant… and honestly, that made Ren more anxious than he would care to admit.

Looking back down at his textbook, Ren tried -unsuccessfully- to register the information inside. Out of everything in the world, Nora was the only one that could distract him from what he was trying to do… she was a living, breathing distraction that he didn't want to rid himself of. So, when Nora began to act different, Ren would change his own routines to keep her close by.

She was his best friend, the only family he had left in the world… he couldn't risk losing her, even if he had to break out of his comfort zone and change his routines.

He could _sense_ Nora grinning, but at the same time, he knew that she was definitely paying attention to her book now. His ability to sense Nora's changing moods wasn't confusing to him; after so many years together, it just seemed like a given. They both knew each other so well by now that it would be strange if they couldn't guess what the other was thinking.

Ren flipped the page of his book, more to hide the fact that he was distracted and thinking of Nora instead of studying. No matter how much he adored the girl -as family, as friends, not _more_ , it couldn't be more- it wouldn't be good if she ever found out exactly how much she could distract him.

If she ever found out, and discovered how to use this ability -and she would figure that out- they'd certainly never get any studying done!

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And there's that! I do hope that you guys enjoyed this -it took longer than I was expecting to get this figured out and written up! Also, since I'm here… uh, hold on, SPOILER ALERT (kinda) for season 3. Skip some here if you haven't seen it!

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So, I was thinking of Disney and RWBY and thought… well, which princess would each be? And then I got the horrible idea of Jaune and Pyrrha as Hercules and Meg (from the Disney movie, which isn't my fave, but seemed to fit) and since Pyrrha's dead, and Meg was dead, it would be totally fitting to have Herc-Jaune to have a journey into the Underworld to save her. Because I wanted to share this totally not-happy idea with the rest of you if anyone wanted to write/draw/whatever with it. So, have fun with that!

Anyway, thanks so much for reading guys, and if you liked it, feel free to drop a review! I'll see you guys in the next story!


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